Well, we made it! It's
probably been a few days since everyone's heard from us. We've had a very
eventful time here in Guatemala. We're all pleased and agree that it's nothing
like we expected it would be.
We started out on Saturday
by driving to Miami. We met at Mrs. Mahan's house at eight in the morning. We
drove to a Chilis right outside of the airport. Then, the cars dropped us off
and we checked in. Tommy, Streater, and Mrs. Hoolihan had to go back through
security because the names on their passports did not match up to the names on
their tickets. Once we made it through we all got unnecessary sugary drinks
from Starbucks. Let's just say we could definitely tell we were no longer in
Ft. Myers by the way the people were acting. We all got on the plane and
everything was in Spanish. It's a good thing we didn't crash!
Once we landed in Guatemala
City we had to go through Customs. We think Guatemala's youth soccer team had
just come home from a major championship, and had won. There was confetti EVERYWHERE!!!
Their families were so pleased and excited to see them. They had their own
paparazzi.
We hopped on an extremely
comfy bus and made the 45 minute drive to our hotel in Antigua. The sights were
like nothing we had ever seen before. It was so different from anything we'd
ever seen before in Ft. Myers. There were buses filled to the brim with people,
it's a wonder they even all fit. The hotel is simply beautiful! Everywhere we
go, people are friendly, so unlike America. The views are gorgeous.We all got
in our rooms and took some time to get adjusted. We had a wonderful buffet, and
then met with Howie for our orientation. The fun was only just beginning!
On Sunday we ventured out to
a coffee plantation. The most magnificent thing happened. We got to go zip
lining. Words can't even express how breathtaking it was to be “flying” over a
canyon way above the tree line. It was so unreal! Most of us didn't make it
across all the way. We tried to pull ourselves back, but let's face it.... that wasn't
going to work. Thankfully, they sent the workers out to get us. We had to take
a zip line to get back as well. It was even higher than the first. More of us
made it across this time.
For lunch, we went to
Mcdonalds. It was the prettiest McDonalds any of us had ever seen. The food
actually looked tasty! They had the traditional meals, but some stuff differed
from what we're used to. After we ate, we went to a market. We got to bargain,
and brush up on our Spanish! Everyone managed to get a good deal on something!
We went back to the hotel,
had some free time (on some baby swings), had orientation, ate dinner, and then went to bed.
We had to get our rest for the long day ahead of us.
Breakfast was at 6:45 a.m.
We had to be on the bus by 8:00. The drive to the Malnutrition Center took
about an hour. We got to drive through so many different towns. It's amazing to
see their culture. The people here are so different. Their smiles are
contagious; they could light up a room. If we wave to them, they genuinely
smile and wave back. There's nothing like that in the U.S anymore.
Once we got to the
Malnutrition Center we took a tour of the facility. We got to sneak peeks of
the kids eager little faces waiting to be loved. Some tears were shed. We are
all assigned to different age groups. When we got into our groups the little
kids ran at you with huge smiles on their faces, with their arms outstretched
waiting for you to pick them up. They are all adorbale. These are the times
when we wish we were octopi to be able to hold all of them at once. They love
to play! We're all so tired after just a day, but we couldn't be happier. We're
very blessed to be here, and we're going to learn a lot! The kids are the ones
that are blessing us.
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